Transportation |
By taxi
Moscow has big traffic jams at rush hours, it
is infamous for them, but taxis are still an easy
way to move around, especially at night. There
are two kinds: yellow ones, which are municipal
taxies, and private cars. Yellow taxis are more
expensive and difficult to find (if you want one
to come and find you, phone 927 0000 one hour
before you need it). If you stop a private car,
fix the price before you get in: it should be
between 300 to 600 roubles to cross the city and
no more than 100 roubles (some $3) for trips in
the city centre.
By train
The entire Russian territory is connected by an
extensive rail network which also connects Russia
to the CIS countries, eastern and western Europe
and the countries of the far-east. There are nine
train stations in Moscow, all connected to the
underground network. The most important are:
Leningradsky Station
Yaroslavsky Station
Kazansky Station
(Komsomolskaya Metro Station)
Belorussky Station
(Belorusskaya Metro Station)
Kievsky Vokzal Station)
(Kievskaya Metro Station)
Kursky Vokzal Station
(Kurskaya Metro Station)
Paveletsky Vokzal Station
(Paveletskaya Metro Station)
Train journeys are not very expensive but foreigners
normally pay a different price than Russian citizens.
Russian trains are normally on time and most of
the rail network works on Moscow time, giving
cohesion to a network that stretches across eleven
time zones.
By water
With the completion of the immense Moscow-Volga
Canal in 1937, the capital was finally linked
to the great system of waterways that runs from
St. Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland all the
way to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea. It is not
hard to follow Peter the Great first dream of
a leisurely sail from St. Petersburg to Moscow,
passing by the finest medieval cities in the country.
Today, Moscow is an important part of the river
transportation network connecting up to four different
seas such as Baltic sea, Caspian sea, White sea
and Azov sea. The largest and the best equipped
sea trade ports of Russia are: St. Petersburg,
Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Kaliningrad, Vyborg, Vysotsk,
Novorossiisk, Tuapse, Vostochny, Vanino, Vladivostok,
Nakhodka, Kholmsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
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By metro
The Moscow metro is very popular in Russia and
renowned worldwide because of its amazing design
and capacity. Some 8 million Moscuvites use the
metro system every day, and that makes it the
busiest in the world. It is the fastest way to
get around, especially in the city centre area
where there is a lot of traffic throughout the
day. Every station, and especially those on the
all-encompassing "circle" line, is a
work of art, often decorated with mosaics, murals,
marble, granite, frescos and sculptures.
The Metro is open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., there
are over 150 stations, each line has its own colour
and the fee for one trip is fixed, although it
is better to spend fifty roubles and buy a pass
for ten trips.
By air
International flights from Sheremetyevo-II Airport,
north-west Moscow, twenty-five minutes from the
city centre.
Telephone information for international flights:
(+7 095) 155 - 5045.
Domestic flights and flights connecting CIS countries
from:
Sheremetyevo, 30km north-west of Moscow;
Domodedovo, 48km south of the city centre;
Vnukovo, 30km south-west;
Bykovo, 45km south-west.
Telephone information for all internal flights:
(+7 095) 155 - 0922/ 5003/ 5977/ 5009/ 8019.
Currently, several international carriers offer
international flights from the airports that,
in theory, serve domestic flights and the CIS
countries. Standards, particularly in Domodedovo,
are often much better than in Sheremetyevo.
For more information, phone (+7 095):
Air France 237-2325; 578-2757
Alitalia 923-9840; 578-2767
Austrian Airline 253-8268; 578-2734
British Airlines 253-2492; 578-2923
Continental Airlines 925-1291
Delta 253-2658; 578-2938
Finnair 292-8788
Iberia 923-0488; 578-2791
Japan Airlines 921-6448; 578-2942
KLM 253-2150; 578-2963
Luftansa 975-2501; 578-2752
SAS 925-4747; 578-2727
Swissair 253-8988; 578-3378.
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